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9th Circuit Holds Inadmissible Evidence May Support Class Cert

5/17/18

By: Ted Peters
Courts around the country are split over whether admissible evidence is needed to support a class certification.  The Fifth Circuit requires it, and the Seventh and Third Circuits appear to be of the same opinion.  In contrast, the Eighth Circuit has indicated that inadmissible evidence can be considered.  On May 3, 2018, the Ninth Circuit join ranks with the Eighth Circuit when it issued an opinion indicating that certification of a class action can be supported by inadmissible evidence.
The case arises out of the district court’s decision to deny class certification to a group of nurses based, in part, on the finding that two of the named plaintiffs had not offered evidence that they were underpaid.  Their only evidence consisted of a paralegal’s analysis of time cards reflecting that hours were not properly calculated.  While perhaps not sufficiently trustworthy to be admitted at trial, the Ninth Circuit concluded that the district court prematurely rejected such evidence when ruling on whether the class could be certified.  The Court stated: “Notably, the evidence needed to prove a class’s case often lies in a defendant’s possession and may be obtained only through discovery.  Limiting class-certification-state proof to admissible evidence risks terminating actions before a putative class may gather crucial admissible evidence.”
The Court also concluded that, because there was no consideration as to whether the employer controlled the nurses after they clocked in, the district court misapplied the definition of “work” under California jurisprudence.  Lastly, the Court was critical of the finding that the law firm representing the putative class action was incapable of properly representing the class, focusing on “apparent errors by counsel with no mention of the evidence in the record demonstrating class counsel’s substantial and competent work on [the] case.”
If you have questions or would like more information, please contact Ted Peters at tpeters@fmglaw.com.